A Birthday that I Missed

I didn't really missed it. I just missed commenting here.

January 18th. This would have been my grandmother's 100th birthday, but she died peacefully in her sleep three years ago. She's the person I wish most to emulate in my life. I think the word complaint was not in her vocabulary, even when she had reason for complaint. She always did what had to be done. Was always willing to smile along with you at the silly things in life. If she drove through freshly laid asphalt in a brand new white car, she didn't bitch and moan. She just got down on the ground and started removing the black stuff. She was an original when life hands you lemons, make lemonade kind of person. Having lived through the depression, she had a tremendous use it up, wear it out attitude. My grandfather died shortly after their 50th anniversary. She lived another 22 years and never remarried. Said all the old men wanted was either a nurse or a housekeeper and she wasn't interested in being either one. If there was something that needed to be done, she did it. Wallpaper hanging, moving stone walls, it didn't matter. She had a problem with idleness. If she sat still too long, she was apt to jump up and start rearranging the furniture. And her one of her biggest pleasures in life, was working outside. Not just gardening. She'd climb on the roof and clean out the gutters. She's also the person who taught me how to thread a needle, how to use a sewing machine (the old treadle version), how to knit, how to crochet. Because if she was sitting down, she had to have something in her hands. Sometimes it wasn't handiwork. Sometimes it was a book. I miss you, Gram, more every passing day.